


Copy of a Copy

by catlikeacat



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29529654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catlikeacat/pseuds/catlikeacat
Summary: Axel was the first to notice.It wasn’t obvious at first but also wasn’t surprising. At least to him.After all, Roxas and Xion had been clumsily stumbling after Axel since they very first came into being. Stiltedly pantomiming his actions in some childish attempt to mimic what was already a shadow puppet performance of who he’d been before.The times had changed and so had they. Missing hearts restored and yet somehow the show went on. Grasping in the dark for their misplaced props and trying to remember their cues.
Relationships: Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Copy of a Copy

**Author's Note:**

> i'm trying to remember what writing is again, anyways, enjoy!
> 
> my twitter is [@catlikeacat](https://twitter.com/catlikeacat) and my tumblr is [@catisacat](https://catisacat.tumblr.com/)

Axel was the first to notice.

It wasn’t obvious at first but also wasn’t surprising. At least to him.

After all, Roxas and Xion had been clumsily stumbling after Axel since they very first came into being. Stiltedly pantomiming his actions in some childish attempt to mimic what was already a shadow puppet performance of who he’d been before. 

The times had changed and so had they. Missing hearts restored and yet somehow the show went on. Grasping in the dark for their misplaced props and trying to remember their cues.

It seemed so effortless for those who hadn’t spent time as Nobodies.

Axel had caught Roxas and Xion imitating them as well.

He wasn’t a religious man by half but if angels existed, Sora was one. That was the only explanation he could think of for the young man’s complete and total acceptance of his weird blonde doppelganger directly mirroring him. Matching face lilting just behind him like a haunted mirror, residing deep in the uncanny valley.

But somehow Sora never flinched at the too familiar face pulling forced imitations of his own smile, frown, look of confusion.

If anything, Sora almost seemed to regard it as a weird little game his kinda-twin liked to play.

While Roxas was more brazen about it, Xion was a bit stealthier. Not copying people to their face but Axel’d catch her later on in the evening. Leaning on the sink of the bathroom, watching her reflection try to capture the facial expressions she’d seen before.

It was the wiser option, really. Axel loved both his kids equally but Xion was always the more intelligent of the two. Taking more after Kairi than Sora who was a bit…

Well, nobody said angels were smart.

Some of the others were a little less patient with this game of copycat. Mostly people outside the group at large. Shopkeepers catching on that something was a little off about the copycat teens milling about their shop every day only to buy the same ice cream and wander off together, hand latched like a couple of otters threatening to float apart.

At least they didn’t have the matching outfits anymore. How Xemnas had ever thought that was a good idea for recon and stealth was beyond him.

Yeah, yeah, they kept them safe in the Corridors of Darkness but surely they could have had something to change into? Or regular clothes underneath? Damn near everyone in Twilight Town was always talking about “that weird cult in the black cloaks”.

Then again, Xemnas never did try at all to imitate more lowly emotions so the concept of blending in was probably lost on him. He was all grand gestures and pensive speeches.

That had always been a bit amusing to Axel, in some way. That Xemnas was one of them with the most pronounced emotions of all but simply too lofty to boil it down to something a bit more relatable. Always posturing and crooning to the half-formed Kingdom Hearts above, disconnected entirely from the others.

Kinda made Axel feel bad for him. Must’ve been lonely, a cage he made for himself.

But this wasn’t about him, he was out of their lives. The puppet strings had been cut and the little dolls are pushing themselves up and trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do now.

Also they were navigating the choppier waters of “having a crush on your best friend.”

Neither of them seemed to want to directly ask Axel for help with this issue and frankly, he was glad. What was he gonna do? If they asked him how he got together with Isa when he was their age the only answer he had was “I taped a sign to his back and one side said ‘kick me’ and the other said ‘I like you, do you like me? xoxo Lea’.”

Isa had gotten halfway through the day with a bare minimum of five kicks until he realized why it was happening.

Lea’s answer came in the form of a headlock he couldn’t weasel his way out of while he just kept attempting to squirm to freedom, loudly repeating the question between cackles.

The answer? “I do, unfortunately.”

Despite their lack of direct questioning, it was evident that Axel and Saïx were still the model for Roxas and Xion’s budding relationship. Even though it was still awkwardly reforming, just like they had. The two men human again but it wasn’t like all those years in the Organization just melted away.

A first start for the kids. A reset for the adults.

Right now the teens walked next to them, chattering away about things they walked past as they traversed the unfamiliar town. Things were always so novel to them, even just seeing regular people was a treat. This place was small, Destiny Islands just barely visible in the distance. Where Sora and Riku had grown up and, to a lesser extent, Kairi.

Despite everything seeming so new to them it was like pieces were buried somewhere deep in their brains. They could walk around easily without a map or directions, still arriving exactly where they were supposed to be going. Axel supposed it was the ghost of Sora’s memories somewhere within them.

While Axel always caught their little imitation game, Saïx remained in the dark.

It was a quick flick of Roxas’s blue eyes. Peering curiously at them as they walked hip to hip, Axel’s arm around Saïx’s shoulders in the way he always protested through a smile. Insisted it made it hard to walk but he never even tried to shrug him off.

Now Roxas’s imitation of it, that was awkward. Nearly knocking a giggling Xion off the sidewalk and into the grass as they tried to walk like that. Nerfed by Roxas not having the height advantage on Xion that Axel had on Saïx.

It was cute though, even though they kept clumsily hip checking each other. A consistent threat to knock one of them over, unsure which.

He looked to Saïx to share a knowing glance about it but his boyfriend seemed unaware of what the look was supposed to mean. It earned Axel a rare smile though so, not a net loss.

There was a pair of twin yelps as Xion misstepped, gripping on hard to Roxas’s arm around her and sending them both tumbling harmlessly into the grass.

\- - -

Arriving home the kids split between them. Roxas following after Axel, Xion after Saïx. A familiar pattern since arriving here.

They’d managed to acquire one of the modest houses on the outskirts of the little town. Partially paid for by a dinky little job Axel’s taken up, working at a snack shack on the beach part time. But much more largely by “Sora’s seemingly endless pool of munny.”

Axel didn’t ask where he got it but apparently being the hero pays well. Frankly, he’d initially been resistant to taking the money but Sora had insisted and the boy is nothing if not extremely hard to turn down.

Probably didn’t help Axel that he had Roxas’s face. His sorta-twin.

You know what, the whole bag of weird kinda-twins creeps Axel out when he thinks about it too hard, so he generally tries not to.

Shaking his head from his thoughts, Roxas had dropped to sit on the ground and pick through the movie selection. Somehow it always seemed like Roxas was left in charge of that but he was surprisingly fair at making sure they didn’t only watch the same thing he likes and nothing else.

Roxas likes action movies, Xion likes horror, Axel likes romcoms, and Saïx acts like he likes serious documentaries about grim topics but his real answer is sappy, romantic period dramas.

Considering those made it into the rotation, Roxas definitely knew.

Sliding onto the couch, he looked over at Saïx and Xion in the kitchen.

Despite their rocky past, or maybe because of it, both of them had made a more concentrated effort to get along. Sometimes with them Axel wasn’t entirely sure who was imitating who. Saïx was ostensibly the more experienced one but the concept of emotions had long since atrophied. While Xion objectively had less experience with dealing with her emotions she seemed a natural at it.

Maybe it was just the pieces of Sora within the kids that let them regrow their hearts so easily.

Or maybe they just weren’t so old and jaded.

Either way, Xion dutifully cut up whatever Saïx handed to her.

Unlike Axel, Saïx had opted to just stay at home even though it meant he had to endure a million little jokes about him being the perfect little housewife. Which was probably for the best considering Axel burned damn near anything he tried to cook. Initially they tried to split food duty but it rapidly descended into “ordering pizza every other day.”

Granted, the kids liked that. But they were already so dinky, the last thing they need is poor nutrition based stunted growth.

Not that what they brought over was particularly healthy this time.

Nachos. Axel certainly wasn’t complaining.

They found their home on a small stack of some of their million of pillows between them, a makeshift table so both halves could share with relative ease. Albeit Axel and Roxas had a bit more of a struggle but neither of their partners was too upset about being reached over.

Somehow Roxas was the remote baron, turning on the large TV to get the movie rolling.

Sappy period piece. Saïx won the raffle this time, the corner of his mouth turning up almost imperceptibly. He blushed when Axel squeezed his arm. Saïx knew Axel knew but he didn’t like being reminded of his softer spots. Or maybe he did.

Either way his resolve softened quickly and he got genuinely invested in the movie.

Sometimes they made Axel feel a bit insecure. Sure did hope that Saïx wasn’t secretly dreaming of grand gestures and romantic speeches, neither of which was Axel’s specialty. He’ll remember every anniversary and any weird little thing you’ve ever mentioned wanting. Surprise you with your favorite fast food order. But the more grandiose cliches were lost on him.

Whatever, if Saïx didn’t like surprise burgers and weird trinket gifts he would have left a long, long, long time ago.

He was here, again, even if Axel didn’t have some big, self-written sonnet for him. And trinkets from long ago, ones Axel assumed would have been lost to time, seemed to endlessly line the shelves they’d built in this new home.

So clearly his lack of romanticism wasn’t a dealbreaker.

That alone made Axel smile, pulling apart Saïx’s hands clasped over his lap to entangle one with his own. Again forcing a little half-degree of a smile out of Saïx. His hand being squeezed tightly back.

Over to their right, this time Saïx definitely saw it.

On the other side of the couch Roxas leaned subtly forward at the movement, watching them for a second before mirroring it. Fumbling a couple times before correctly interlocking his fingers with Xion’s.

A third smile. Saïx was really on a roll tonight with those. Even allowing himself to rest his head on Axel’s shoulder, evidently riding the high of “actually experiencing happiness.” A level of affection he normally reserved for when they were completely alone together, curled up together to sleep at night.

Another set of blue eyes watching. Xion mirroring Saïx, albeit her neck was at a bit weirder of an angle with their nigh identical heights.

Would that ever change for the two? Saïx remembered when he and Axel were young. Lea was always complaining about the two inches Isa had on him. Always saying that he’d pass him up, give him time.

Isa had always laughed, leaning down those two inches, and patted his head with a condescending grin, “Maybe in the next life.”

Shouldn’t have said that. By the time they’d been turned into a couple of Nobodies Axel had shot up. Now towering over him, albeit skinny as ever. Like you’d taken that lanky kid and stretched him out like silly putty.

Axel didn’t let him forget that. Whether it was a playful tease invoking Saïx’s own childhood taunts or less than friendly towering over him as they argued back before they patched things up. Angry face-offs in the back corridors of The Castle That Never Was that felt a lifetime away but still brought the sick bile of guilt high in Saïx’s throat.

The idea that he was here with Axel again, the very children he’d tormented to his right. Especially Xion. Not only had she accepted his presence but she was imitating him now. Like he was some sort of role model.

Saïx wasn’t sure if he thought that was touching or if it also just made him feel guilty.

Maybe a little of both.

On Axel’s end the answer for this was much simpler. It was just about as perfect as things could get, considering what they’d gone through.

And maybe he and Saïx weren’t the absolute best role models ever. Maybe they were kinda fucked up from all their years in the Organization. From fighting each other. From Saïx striking him down. Riddled with a thousand tiny flaws.

But after all that, they were somehow still together.

What the oblivious teens were imitating was still a copy of a copy but somewhere deep down he original was being dug up.


End file.
